Aaron Judge, Oswaldo Cabrera Yankees’ September leaders

Tuesday October 4, 2022

Aaron Judge won the AL Player of the Month award for the fifth time in his career and the third time in 2022. Presented by Chevrolet, the All-Star outfielder got the American League Player for September award. For the National League, it went to Eduardo Escobar of the New York Mets.

The New York Yankees‘ slugger also had in May and July. Aaron Judge is the first player in the history of the American League to win Player of the Month three times in the same season. He is also the first player in the Major Leagues to do this since Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals had it in 1998.

Eduardo Escobar won the NL Player of the Month award for the first time in his career. He is the first Mets player to win the award since David Wright in June 2010. This is the first time since April 2007 that a Met and a Yankee have both won their League’s Player of the Month award for the same month (Alex Rodrguez for the Yankees and Jose Reyes for the Mets).

Aaron Judge’s September exploits

• In 25 games, Aaron Judge had a batting average of .417 (35 for 84). This included 26 runs, eight doubles, 10 home runs, 17 RBI, 30 walks, a stolen base, an on-base percentage of .565, and a slugging percentage of .869.

• On September 28, at Toronto, the four-time All-Star hit his 61st homer of the 2022 season. With that, he surpassed Babe Ruth and leveled with Roger Maris for most AL single-season home runs.

• Aaron Judge had a hit streak of 11 games from September 8th to September 21st, with seven of those games having more than one hit. During the impressive stretch, he hit .500 (22-for-44) and had five doubles, five home runs, and 10 RBI.

• Aaron Judge, the two-time Silver Slugger Award winner, had his fourth four-hit game of the season on September 18 at Milwaukee. It was also the 11th time this season that he hit more than one home run in a game.

Oswaldo Cabrera emerging on the Yankees’ scene faster than expected

Before the playoffs, the New York Yankees have to answer a lot of questions, and a place on the team roster for Oswaldo Cabrera shouldn’t be one of them.

Cabrera is No. 10 on ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel’s list of the best rookies who are likely to be in the playoffs.

The rookie has hit to show that he belongs in the big leagues. In 39 games, he hit .243 with five home runs and 18 RBI. Manager Aaron Boone has used Cabrera in left field, right field, first base, second base, third base, and shortstop, which shows how versatile he is.

Cabrera was never really a Top 100 prospect, and he doesn’t have the size or speed to make scouts go crazy, but he has really learned how to use the skills he has. He’s more of a power hitter than a contact hitter, but he’s figured out how to hit 25 or so home runs the last two years by making the right kind of contact. His raw power for a big leaguer isn’t that great, but he makes enough contact to avoid becoming a Ryan Schimpf.

Cabrera and the Yankees have won their division in the American League (AL), making them the No. 2 seed in the AL and giving them a bye into the AL Division Series.

Top rookies who are going to the playoffs are:

Player	Position	Team
Julio Rodriguez	CF	Seattle Mariners
Michael Harris II	CF	Atlanta Braves
Spencer Strider	RHS	Atlanta Braves
Steven Kwan	LF	Cleveland Guardians
Jeremy Pena	SS	Houston Astros
George Kirby	RHS	Seattle Mariners
Lars Nootbaar	RF	St. Louis Cardinals
Andres Munoz	RHR	Seattle Mariners
Brendan Donovan	2B	St. Louis Cardinals
Oswaldo Cabrera	RF	New York Yankees